The Babst Calland Women’s Initiative strives to increase the retention and advancement of women attorneys at our Firm and in the broader legal community by promoting inclusivity and equal opportunities.
The Women’s Initiative meets regularly to facilitate open discussions about workplace challenges historically faced by women in professional settings and encourages the exchange of advice and experiences to aid others in navigating those challenges.
The Women’s Initiative further supports the Firm’s women attorneys in developing and promoting their practices by acknowledging and celebrating successes and encouraging mentorship among all of the Firm’s attorneys. A key goal of the Women’s Initiative is to connect women attorneys across the Firm’s practice groups and offices, allowing for organic support systems to develop and prosper. This blending of practice groups and offices encourages collaboration and cross-marketing opportunities that benefit our attorneys and clients. By encouraging these relationships, the Women’s Initiative’s work advances the professional and business development of women attorneys at the Firm and within the legal community at large.
The following celebrates the initiatives of the women attorneys at Babst Calland.
On Thursday, March 5, 2026, business leaders from across the Commonwealth will gather for the PA Chamber of Business and Industry’s 2026 Human Resources Conference to tackle one of today’s most pressing employer challenges: how to operationalize AI responsibly, effectively, and with confidence.
Babst Calland Employment and Labor Attorney Alex Farone will join Denise Turley, Vice President of Corporate Systems at the U.S. …
On February 12, 2026, the U.S. EPA announced a rule finalizing EPA’s repeal of the Obama administration’s 2009 Endangerment Finding as well as all federal greenhouse gas emissions standards for vehicles and engines of model years 2012 and beyond. Administrator Zeldin originally announced the agency’s intent to do so in March of 2025 as part of the agency’s “31 Historic Actions to Power the Great American Comeback” announcement, and a proposed rule was issued in August of 2025. …
After EPA announced that it would retain the CERCLA hazardous substance designations for PFOA and PFOS on September 17, 2025, it filed a motion to lift the abeyance from the ongoing litigation regarding the designations in the D.C. Circuit in Chamber of Commerce of the United States of America v. EPA, No. 24-1193 (D.C. Cir.). The case was initiated in June 2024 when the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other industry groups challenged the Biden administration’s final rule designating PFOA and PFOS as CERCLA hazardous substances in the D.C. …
Over half of the states in the U.S. have enacted legislation to prohibit hair-based discrimination, and Pennsylvania has now followed suit. The Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair (CROWN) Act, signed into law on November 25, 2025, goes into effect on January 24, 2026. This state-wide measure follows CROWN Act ordinances passed by the Allegheny County and Pittsburgh City Councils in 2020 offering local protections. Cella Iovino and Katerina Vassil discuss several unique nuances of Pennsylvania’s new law. …
On December 9, 2025, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) published a Notice of Availability and Request for Comment on the Draft Programmatic Environmental Assessment (PEA) for Drone Package Delivery Operations in the United States.[1] The PEA was issued pursuant to the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024’s requirement that FAA examine and integrate programmatic-level approaches to the requirements of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) package delivery. …
View our attorney spotlight on Ramonda Marling in our Charleston, WV office. This is the eighth in a series of profiles featuring the women attorneys of Babst Calland to acknowledge and celebrate their success and to connect women attorneys across the Firm’s practice groups, offices and clients.
To view the profile on Ramonda, click here.
Meghan S. Mesojedec recently joined Babst Calland’s Pittsburgh, Pa. office as an associate in the Corporate and Commercial Group. Ms. Mesojedec focuses primarily on corporate, real estate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts, and the acquisition, disposition, and leasing of various asset types.
Prior to joining the Firm, Ms. Mesojedec was an associate with Metz Lewis Brodman Must O’Keefe LLC. …
Babst Calland recently named Tiffany M. Arbaugh, Alexandra G. Farone and Stefanie Pitcavage Mekilo shareholders.
Tiffany Arbaugh practices in the Firm’s Charleston, W.Va. office and is a member of the Energy and Natural Resources and Litigation groups. Tiffany focuses her practice on representing corporations in a variety of litigation matters with an emphasis in energy-related litigation, including mineral title, real estate, trespass, fraud, title curative, personal injury and toxic torts. …
AI meeting assistants offer numerous benefits, including allowing participants who would otherwise be taking notes to stay fully engaged, automatically generating meeting summaries and action items, producing uniform and unbiased notes for all participants, and even identifying speakers by their voices. But what many users do not fully appreciate is that these tools introduce a third party into conversations historically governed by strict privacy and confidentiality rules, a shift that carries profound consequences for attorney–client privilege, wiretap compliance, compliance with privacy laws, Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law (RTKL), and discovery exposure. …
In response to President Trump’s Executive Order 14179, “Removing Barriers to American Leadership in Artificial Intelligence (AI),” EPA announced this week a new EPA webpage dedicated to compiling agency resources related to the Clean Air Act requirements potentially applicable to the development of data centers and AI facilities across the United States. The webpage, Clean Air Act Resources for Data Centers, is intended to promote transparency by aiding developers and other interested parties in locating various agency resources, including Clean Air Act regulations, interpretative guidance, and technical tools, that may assist with Clean Air Act permitting and air quality modeling during project development. …
When can an employee hold its employer liable for harassment by a third-party? In her recent article in The Legal Intelligencer, Janet Meub discusses recent decisions that guide how employers can be held directly liable for the actions of their agents. To read the full article, click here.
On November 17, 2025, the U.S. EPA and Army Corps of Engineers proposed a revised definition of “waters of the United States” under the Clean Water Act. The Trump administration announced that the Proposed Rule would “provide greater regulatory certainty and increase Clean Water Act program predictability and consistency.” If you have any questions or would like any additional information on the Proposed Rule and WOTUS developments or the Clean Water Act, in general, and the impacts on your business, please contact Lisa Bruderly or Ethan Johnson. …
There has been much talk within the oil and gas industry about the potential for lithium extraction from produced water, a waste byproduct produced during hydraulic fracturing and drilling. Is this only talk, or are we approaching another extraction revolution? The answer is that the revolution is knocking on the door, but there remain significant practical and legal hurdles to overcome. To become viable, lithium extraction must become both economically and environmentally sustainable. …
On November 12, 2025, Governor Josh Shapiro signed House Bill 416, a Fiscal Code Bill and a segment of the Pennsylvania budget package for Fiscal Year 2025-26. The Fiscal Code has several important implications for industry regulation, including the abrogation of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI) regulations, permitting relief through expedited review schedules for certain air and water general permits, and provisions to ensure grid reliability. …
On November 10, 2025, EPA announced a proposed revision to regulations issued under Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Section 8(a)(7), which would reduce certain per and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) reporting requirements for manufacturers and importers. Babst Calland’s Environmental Practice attorneys are closely tracking EPA’s PFAS actions, and our attorneys are available to provide strategic advice on how developing PFAS regulations may affect your business. For more information or answers to questions, please contact Sloane Anders Wildman or Ethan Johnson. …
